This invention relates to a refuse packaging assembly of the kind comprising a refuse press and a container adapted to be attached to said refuse press for filling thereby, wherein said refuse press includes a press box having an outlet at one end thereof, and a pressing plunger disposed in said press box for axial movement therethrough, said container includes means defining a filling opening, and a closure plug adapted to be coupled to said container to close said filling opening and also adapted to be coupled to said plunger, and wherein said assembly includes means for connecting said container to said press with said filling opening aligned with said press box outlet, first coupling means for coupling and uncoupling said closure plug to and from said container, and second coupling means for coupling and uncoupling said closure plug to and from said pressing plunger. The closure plug of the container is coupled to the pressing plunger when the container is connected to the press and travels with the pressing plunger as a front-mounted pressing plate during the pressing operation and during the filling of the container.
An assembly of this type is disclosed in DE-PS No. 2 207 600. In this case the uncoupling of the closure plug from the container at the start of the filling operation, in order to be coupled to the pressing plunger, and also the re-coupling of the plug to the container in order to close the container before it is separated from the press after the filling operation has been completed, is controlled by a different drive from the coupling of the closure plug to the pressing plunger. The refuse packaging assembly thus has, for carrying out the above control functions, two drives acting independently of each other. In more detail, after the container has been fitted to the refuse press, so-called pawls, which are disposed in the logitudinal walls of the container and are connected together by pull-out finger rods, first enter the movement region of inclined pins. These inclined pins are disposed on opposite sides of the press, and are then pressed by a drive in the form of a cylinder of electromagnet against a spring force and against the pull-out finger rods to cause the pawls to move out of detents which are located in the container closure plug and in which the pawls engage to secure the plug to the container. The closure plate, which is thus detached from the container, is then taken over by the advanced pressing plunger, coupling of the closure plug to the pressing plunger being effected by a further drive mechanism comprising electromagnets or an electromechanical locking device, which requires complicated hooking, centering pin and pawl assemblies.
The principal disadvantage of a refuse packing assembly of this type is the considerable constructional cost, which is associated with the two power drives which are required for connecting the container to the refuse press and for coupling the pressing plunger to the closure plug. Added to this is the fact that, in the coupling of the closure plug of the container to the pressing plunger, the exact positioning of the pressing plunger relative to the hooks and centering pins mounted on the closure plug is very troublesome. The individual control functions, i.e. the coupling of the container to the press and the taking-over of the closure plug by the pressing plunger, and the supervision associated therewith, must be initiated or carried out by operating personnel. The personnel costs associated with the deployment of the necessary operating personnel are highly uneconomical for the operator of the refuse packaging plant.
Due both to the number of the drives required and the resultant technical complexity, and to the number of the functional sequences required during the coupling and uncoupling of the container and press, the plant involves an unreasonable method of operating and long exchange times during the filling of the different containers. As a consequence, this refuse packaging assembly has a poor efficiency, resulting from the unfavourable ratio between the possible output capability of the refuse press to the actual packaging of refuse permitted by the time-consuming coupling and uncoupling operations.
Also, faults can occur in this known assembly because of the fact that neither the container nor the press of necessity possesses devices for controlling the locking operation or locking elements which can hold the container in alignment with the refuse press (in the filling position) during filling of the container.